Garafolo on his way to Memphis

Hamlet Nalbandyan

Former St. Francis High offensive lineman Bobby Garafolo could

have gone straight to a Division I college after high school, but

decided to go the junior college route instead to get him better

prepared.

After two successful years at Mount San Antonio College, the

19-year-old has finally decided to make the jump to the next level.

Picking from a list of programs that included Oklahoma, Nebraska,

Tennessee, Pittsburgh, Oregon State and New Mexico State, the

6-foot-4, 300-pounder chose the University of Memphis as his school

of choice.

Like the other schools, Memphis was offering Garafolo a full

athletic scholarship, but the Tigers could give him something the

others couldn’t: immediate playing time.

“I just really liked the program at Memphis, and they didn’t have

as many linemen as some of the other schools,” said Garafolo, who had

given a verbal commitment to USC out of high school, but had his

scholarship taken away after Coach Paul Hackett was fired.

Garafolo, who signed with Memphis on Dec. 24 after taking a visit

to the campus, will leave on Thursday to go to the campus.

“It’s tough leaving home,” said Garafolo, who has lived all his

life with his mother Irene. “I love my mom very much, but I’m excited

to go to a program like Memphis and play Division I football.”

Garafolo, who boasts a 3.8 grade-point average, will likely start

at guard for the Tigers, who went 3-9 last season in Conference USA,

but had four of their losses come by seven points or less.

Garafolo was a News-Press All-Area first-team selection in 2000,

after earning first-team All-CIF Southern Section Division III and

Mission League honors as a senior.